Isolation In Frankenstein Essay

In Mary Shelley’s gothic romantic novel, Frankenstein, there are many instances where you can see the negative effects on people and their mental status. Even though having time alone can be beneficial, complete isolation is not good for humans because interacting with others, such as loved ones, is needed to keep everyone’s mental status in a pleasant state. Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein and his creature suffer from the many effects of isolation.

Letter two is the first place where isolation is discussed. Robert Walton is writing a letter to his sister, Margaret, and explains to her how he “bitterly feel[s] the want of a friend” (Shelley 5). Walton is explaining how lonely he is and how he just wants someone to tell all of his intellectual thoughts to. Walton just wants someone to share his thoughts and feelings with. He even says “I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate in my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavour to sustain me in dejection” (Shelley 4). He is upset that he doesn’t have anyone to share the good and bad times with.

Victor isolates himself so he can focus more on his experiment of creation.

He is so concerned about creating the creature that he puts his loved ones to the side and focuses solely on the creation of the creature. However, Victor eventually regrets his decision of isolating himself. He states “You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been” (Shelley 15). He admits that the effects of his decisions were bad and he doesn’t want Walton to go through what he went through. Victor is so distraught because “Yet even the enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.” (Shelley 194). He feels so upset because the devil even has companions and he

doesn’t.
The monster feels isolated the most out of the three. There is absolutely no one like him in the world. Because he is so scary looking, nobody gives him the chance to be a nice creature and friend. The monster knows people are lonely but he doesn’t think they have a good excuse to be because “All men hate the wretched; how then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us” (Shelley 86). The creature hates being alone and different so he asks Victor to create him a companion by saying “I am alone and miserable: man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me. My companion must be of the same species and have the same defects. This being you must create” (Shelley 132). While the creature reads and realizes how alone he actually is, he begins to have thoughts of suicide which is a very serious effect of loneliness.
Being isolated is not mentally healthy for any person or creature. Some alone time can be wonderful but everyone needs loved ones in their life.